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Following his century in the first Test against Bangladesh, Shubman Gill recalled a hilarious incident with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, with whom he had a 167-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Centuries from Gill and Rishabh Pant helped India set a massive 515 run target in the first Test at Chennai. The two future batting stars for India took Bangladeshi bowling apart with some ruthless hitting, continuing their fine form in the long format. Speaking at the press conference at the end of day's play, Gill recalled that during celebrations of their milestones, Pant was trying to touch his bat with Gill's bat, but the right-hander asked Pant to not do so since he was "trying to save the bat" he has been using since the series against England earlier this year. "I was telling him not (to hit his bat). Because I am playing with a bat which I used in England series, so my bat is quite old actually, and he was hitting my bat so hard that I was telling him that 'I am trying to save my bat'. So, if in the middle, he would say, let us do it again. Bro, calm down (smiles)," said Pant. Coming to the match, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to field first. The top-order collapsed, and India was left at 34/3. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (56 in 118 balls, with nine fours) and Rishabh Pant (39 in 52 balls, with six fours) stitched a 62-run partnership for the fourth wicket, bringing India into the game. After India was reduced to 144/6, Ravichandran Ashwin (113 in 133 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes) and Ravindra Jadeja (86* in 117 balls, with 10 fours and two sixes) stitched a 199-run partnership, helping India reach 376 in 91.2 overs. Hasan Mahmud (5/83) was the top bowler for Bangladesh, destroying the Indian top order, removing skipper Rohit Sharma (6), Shubman Gill (0), and Virat Kohli (6). Taskin Ahmed also took three wickets for 55 runs. In their first innings, Bangladesh lost wickets regularly. Shakib Al Hasan (32), Litton Das (22) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (27*) put up a brief fight for Bangladesh, but Bumrah (4/50) and Akash Deep (2/19) broke the back of Bangladesh batting. Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja took two wickets each. Bangladesh was bundled out for 149 runs in their first inning and trailed by 227 runs. In their second innings, India once again lost their top-order quickly and was struggling at 67/3. But centuries from Gill (119*) and Rishabh Pant (109 in 128 balls, with 13 fours and four sixes) helped them reach 287/4 before the innings was declared. Bangladesh was set a massive 515 to win. Bangladesh started off the run-chase well, with openers Zakir Hasan (33) and Shadman Islam (35) putting up a 62-run opening stand. Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (51* in 60 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) held the innings together as Ravichandran Ashwin (3/63) and Jasprit Bumrah (1/18) were among the wickets. At the end of day three, Bangladesh was 158/4, with skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (51*) and Shakib Al Hasan (5*) unbeaten. (ANI)
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